Are Email Newsletters Profitable?

It may sound like a simple question. Are Email Newsletters Profitable? The short answer is yes, but it requires an explanation or, at the very least, some clarification.

Email newsletters can earn money or generate revenue, but most don't. This fact should not, however, be discouraging. Email newsletters are similar to every other business in that you —the newsletter entrepreneur— are not guaranteed success and profit, but rather must work for it.

Yes, Email Newsletters Are Profitable

Email newsletters generate two categories of profit —direct and indirect. Let's define each.

Direct profit is that money one earns from the newsletter proper. It takes the form of paid subscriptions, advertising, and sponsorships. It is money earned directly from the newsletter's existence.

Consider paid subscriptions. In this model, the newsletter itself is the product. Subscribers pay for inside information, exceptional context, or priority access. And again, the revenue is directly related to the newsletter.

The other type of direct newsletter profit is advertising and sponsorships. In this case, the subscribers are the product. As a newsletter publisher, you sell access to the audience. The revenue and profit are direct because, once again, it is the newsletter being sold.

Indirect profit comes from using the newsletter to promote or sell other products. In this case, the newsletter acts as a delivery mechanism.

For example, one of my websites, Science Fiction Classics, has an editorial email newsletter. That newsletter's primary revenue stream is promoting science-fiction-themed t-shirts from the journal's Shopify store. It is content that leads to commerce.

Other indirect profit sources could be selling digital downloads, courses, or community memberships. Last year, I outlined eight ways to monetize a newsletter if you want to look at any of these in depth.

No, Email Newsletters Are Not Profitable

Of the millions of email newsletters that have been started, only a relative few actually earn profit. To generate revenue, newsletters must be established.

A newsletter either needs an audience of at least 5,000 subscribers or access to valuable information for a direct profit.

In some cases, one can earn revenue indirectly sooner, for example, if the newsletter is meant to drive ecommerce sales, a smaller audience may still be profitable.

Nonetheless, a new newsletter just starting out is much more likely to be an expense than it is to generate profit.